Digital Nomads - Measuring Progress In A Dispersed World - The Diigo Meta page

• 29 Nov 08
  

  lelapin _

  In a world of increasing professional freedom, managers (and the rest of us) struggle to adequately measure output. Gone are the days of clocking in and clocking out. We often assume that the number of hours spent “working” are an indication of one’s effort and accomplishment. However, in reality, this is not the case. Furthermore, applying such short-sighted measurements will diminish some of the most valuable benefits of a free-range workforce.

  creativity productivity time management efficiency bureaucracy

• 

  Bertrand Duperrin

  In a world of increasing professional freedom, managers (and the rest of us) struggle to adequately measure output. Gone are the days of clocking in and clocking out. We often assume that the number of hours spent “working” are an indication of one’s effort and accomplishment. However, in reality, this is not the case. Furthermore, applying such short-sighted measurements will diminish some of the most valuable benefits of a free-range workforce.

  creativity productivity timemanagement competitiveadvantage ROWE efficiency bureaucracy digitalnomads workflow management measurement

  • The Competitive Advantage of The Unexpected
    
    As a team that researches productivity in creative industries, we have learned that the sources of inspiration don’t mix well with rigidity.
  • In return, the mobile workforce must deliver “spurts” of productivity and insight. When bonuses are considered, managers must value the spurts versus an adherence to the daily grind.
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  • • According to a recent study by AOL and Salary.com, full-time employees work a total of three days a week, wasting the other two. The new era of free-range workers and their managers and clients must embrace transparency, and there must be a fundamental trust shared between colleagues. Beyond deadlines, expense accounts, and privacy, every employee must trust that their colleagues want the best for the company, care about the product, and aspire to succeed in their role.
    • The pressure of being required to sit at your desk until a certain time creates a factory-like culture that ignores a few basic laws of idea generation and human nature: (1) When the brain is tired, it doesn’t work well, (2) Idea generation happens on its own terms, (3) When you feel forced to execute beyond your capacity, you begin to hate what you are doing.
    • Managers must start to reconsider the conventional assumption that butts in chairs = productivity. In some particularly impressive companies such as Kluster, managers have abandoned the normal societal expectation of work time in favor of “doing work whenever there is work to be done.”  Another company, 37 Signals has went as far as implementing a standard four-day work week.  Even major corporations such as Best Buy have implemented programs such as ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) which favors performance based on output instead of hours.

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